The Truth Will Set You Free
by P.J. Lowry
Summary: Two-Face comes out to the public with a very gutsy bank robbery and some demands that put Gordon in a tough position.


Harvey was not interested in staying in the shadows for very long. The whole plan was to expose Jim Gordon and Batman's lies to the city as soon as possible and in the grandest of fashion. But what happened to Gotham City wasn't his doing, he left it all to chance. The flip of the coin has spared the Metro Bank from getting hit, but the same couldn't be said for Jannsen's Jewelers earlier that day nor the South Side Savings, their current hit which was the richest bank on the south side. Armed with men from old mob crews, two face hit both places with a furious rage. Shooting out the lights, cameras and anything else that would freak people out into co-operating and not resisting their heists. People who recognized Harvey, the former white knight protector of the city, were shocked beyond belief when they came face to face with his new alter-ego. To see the burned flesh, the exposed bone of his cheeks was so repulsive that one lady behind the counter had fainted upon seeing what was left of their former champion.

He didn't care. To him all that mattered was what was fair. He started flipping his coin at an insane rate, deciding who would go into the vault and remain a hostage and who would be left in the lobby to be freed to buy time with the police, who were now outside with an army of Swat in full combat gear. He didn't inform his minions, but Two Face wanted to confirm the police, especially with the hopes that Gordon would be outside. Staying put during an armed robbery was also the best way to attract the bat, and Harvey badly wanted to get a piece of him as well. He sat in the middle of the bank, on a small table patiently waiting for the police to make contact. Finally after a little while, that call finally came in. He listened to it ring for a few moments and then finally answered. "Hello?"

_"This is Commissioner Gordon."_ the voice answered. _"Can you tell me what your name is?"_

"My name is Harvey Dent, but you can can me Two Face."

_"Harvey?"_ Gordon replied, obviously in shock and disbelief._ "What are you doing in there?"_

"Robbing a bank." he smugly answered, "Same thing I did to Jannsen's Jewelers earlier today. Making money with a good old fashioned crime spree!"

_"I don't understand..."_ Gordon said, trying to grasp what was going on in there.

"All you have to know is that fate decided that I be here today. Fate will decide what happens here and who gets out alive. Are we clear on that?" Harvey barked into the phone, angered at Jim's slow ability to catch on.

_"I am."_ Gordon passively replied. _"Just tell me what you want, and I'll do whatever I can to make it happen."_

"Now we're talking. Give me a moment." Harvey pulled out a piece of paper, one that had a small list on it. He proceeded to flip his coin. After the first toss, he took out a pen and scribbled away one of the demands. He flipped again, and this time had a smile on half his face as he picked up the phone to resume his conversation. "Jim, comply with my first demand and I will release five hostages. I would like you to make a statement to the press."

_"That's it?"_ Jim replied.

"That's it." Harvey repeated back to him.

_"What kind of statement, Harvey?"_ Jim asked.

"That's the catch: I want you to tell the truth. I want you to stand before the press core and tell them all what really happned that day when I disappeared. You are going to tell the press who killed those cops and that the Batman has been innocent all this time. You have a hour to make your statement, and I will be watching so make it a good one. Five people are depending on you. Fail to meet my first of what will be many demands and I kill the five mentioned hostages. If you make your statement, the truth shall set them free..." and with that, Harvey slammed the phone down and ended their conversation. He sat there and flipped his coin a few more times, trying to figure out what to do next. After a few flips, he continued down the list, scratch a few out along the way.

"Excuse me, sir." someone called out.

Harvey looked up from what he was doing to realize that a small child, no older than eight had gotten up off the floor and walked up to speak with him. He was a brave boy for approaching someone like Harvey, given that half his face was something no one could stand to look at for long periods of time. Unware that he had gotten so close, he jumped up from where he was sitting and pointed his gun at the small boy. "What do you want?"

"To talk." the young boy replied.

Harvey was a little stunned by the boys courage. No one in the bank had the balls to approach him yet, but this kid wanted to speak with him, talk him down maybe. The kid had minerals. Harvey admired the boy's courage and lowered his gun. "If you want to talk, you have to take your chance with fate." He held his coin up for the boy to see. "This is your last chance: if you sit back down and I'll pretend this never happened. If not, I flip this coin and fate decides what happens next."

"I don't understand." the boy said.

"This side I put a bullet right between the eyes." Harvey explained as he showed the half with the scratch through the face, he turned the coin over to reveal the other side that was clean of any scratches. "This side we will have that talk in that nice looking office over there while we wait for the police to adhere to my first demand." he pointed to the office which likely belonged to the bank manager.

"All right." the boy said, a little nervous. "I'm willing to take the chance."

Harvey nodded before giving the coin a very hefty flip, and it soared at least three feet above from its starting point and back down onto Harvey's hand where it made a loud slapping sound. He looked down at the coin and then walked over to the boy to show him the result. He watched as the boy peeked at his hand and he let out a huge sigh of relief. "All right. Let's go..." They both walked across the lobby floor and into another room where the office he had pointed to was located. Harvey made a motion to one of henchmen to keep an eye out for him while he was occupied. The man grunted and returned his gesture with a nod. After Harvey closed the door behind him, he walked over to the big chair and loafed into it with a deep sigh. "What's your name?"

"Nathan, Sir." the boy replied.

"All right Nathan, spill it. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"About what you told to the police. You said that Batman was innocent."

"I did say that." Harvey confirmed as he put his feet up on the bank manager's desk.

"How do you know that?" Nathan then asked.

"Because I killed them. It was me." Harvey said with a smirk on half his face.

"Why did you do it?"

"The reason is right here." Harvey said as he pointed to the scarred side of his head. "They were all responsible for this."

"Does it hurt?" Nathan asked as he tilted his head a bit to take a look.

"It did at first, but the nerves on that side are now dead. I don't feel anything on the side of my face anymore." Harvey said as he flipped the coin again, not paying attention to the result as it was just for amusement. "But that's nothing compared to other pains they caused me."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about Rachel. The woman I loved. The day I became... this... she was also the victim of a similar accident. She did not survive."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Nathan said to him, getting an inside look into the anger that fueled the criminal.

"Thank you."

"So you killed them because of what happened to her?"

"No. I still gave them a chance. I left it all to fate and because of that I actually let one of them go. The other two were not so lucky."

"So why wait so long?" Nathan asked. "Batman has been running for a long time."

"That wasn't my choosing. I was transferred to a metal institution in Metropolis. I wasn't able to escape and return until just recently."

"So you're here to get back at whoever had something to do with with happened to you and Rachel?"

"That's right, and covering up what I did was wrong. I am not ashamed of what I did because those dogs deserved it. I showed them more respect than they ever did for Rachel! I gave them a chance to get away, for fate to help them out! Something she was never given..."

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. The thug that Harvey had talked to was there. "Mr. Two Face, Gordon is on TV making a statement to the press."

There was a television in the office, so Harvey jumped up and turned it on and flicked a few channels until finding one with Gordon on it. He stood there and watched intently, hanging on every word that came out of the Commissioner's mouth. It was a decent statement as it was long, carried the story that he wanted known to the world and even an apology from himself for keeping the truth away from the people for all this time. The press had a lot of questions, but Gordon took none of them and left after making his statement. Batman's name had been cleared, and Harvey was finally given credit for what he really did. What fate had told him to do. "Excellent. Time to free some hostages."

"Who are you going to let go?"

"Fate has already decided for me. I have also decided to let you go with them. So six hostages instead of five, but I have a request. I'd like you to do something for me."

"What do you want?" the boy asked. Harvey walked over because a few of the thugs were within earshot and quietly whispered his request in the boys ear. After listening to him, the small boy cracked a smile. "I'll only do it if fate asks me to." he replied.

Harvey walked back to the desk and grabbed the coin. "All right." he tossed the coin again and watched with anticipation as it landed on the office desk.

Harvey and the boy walked out of the office, he pointed to five hostages he had separated earlier before talking to Gordon. "You five are free to go, and take the boy with you."

The six hostages scrambled out of the building as the thugs opened the door for them. They chained the door shut again as soon as they were out. Nathan watched with surprise as the SWAT team took them into custody and then used their shields to cover them until they were out of harm's way. They were padded down for weapons or explosives to make sure Two Face didn't try to use them to attack the forces outside. Nathan was given a juice box and some cookies to eat while he watched the other five hostages get grilled for as much intel as possible. He watched with curiosity, until someone finally came over to speak with him.

The man was older than the other cops, and seemed to be the man in charge as no one told him what he could or couldn't do in the room. He took a seat beside Nathan and cracked a friendly smile. "Hello Nathan."

"Hi."

"My name is Commissioner Jim Gordon."

"I know. I saw you on TV today."

"Someone told me that. You were in an office watching it with..."

"Mr. Two Face."

"Yes. What did you two talk about?"

"Not much really. Fate, chance and all that stuff. He was very distracted."

"Okay." Gordon said as he gave the boy a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Is there anything else you could offer that could help us out, son?"

"Just one thing." Nathan answered as he jumped off his chair. Without any warning, he took his left food and kicked Gordon in the shin as hard as he could. Gordon face was wide eyed with shock and beet red as he screamed out in pain. He looked down at Nathan, wondering what that was for when the boy offered a reason without having to be asked. "That was for Rachel."

Gordon and all the other cops looked at each other, completely dumbfounded as Nathan left to rejoin the other hostages who were sitting in another room. Fate had struck again...


End file.
